Burakumin: Japan’s outcasts

[thomas]

The Diplomat with a piece on the burakumin, the outcasts of Japanese society, and a social classification that should no longer exist according to the law. The article focuses on Sūjin (崇仁), an area located a few hundred metres east of Kyoto Station, also known as Korean Town.

Despite the effort from the association to dispel the perception of those people as sub-citizens (how they were viewed in the past), the long shadow of centuries-old discrimination is still felt to this day. "Sujin is the burakumin ghetto. I personally don't think of them badly, but definitely, my parents do, as they expressly told me 'to be careful if I found myself close to them," said Yudai, a 43-year-old salaryman who comes to Kyoto on Sunday to fish in the Kamo river. In fact, it is very near this river that the burakumin historically lived, and today many of their descendants still reside here.

Japan’s Outsider Caste

The burakumin still feel the impact of centuries-old discrimination, though many Japanese deny these prejudices still exist.

thediplomat.com

部落解放同盟中央本部｜部落解放同盟中央本部

www.bll.gr.jp

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Buraku (部落, "hamlets", "villages") used to be a term to describe residential areas segregated from the rest of Japanese society in which members of a minority known as burakumin (部落民) or hisabetsu burakumin (被差別部落民, "discriminated residents of the special communities") lived. The burakumin, whose descendants still face discrimination today, belong ethnically to the Japanese population (unlike the Ainu or the Koreans, the other two large minorities of Japan) and can not be distinguished from the rest of the Japanese in appearance, religion or customs. The social challenges and the persisting discrimination based on their social status in the Edo period, just like the pariah caste of India, are referred to as buraku mondai (部落問題, "buraku issue") or dōwa mondai (同和問題, "integration issue"). The official number of burakumin descendants is 1.157 million; the actual number is estimated at around two to three million, while the number of former buraku areas ranges between 5,000 to 6,000.

 

[nice gaijin]

So very interesting, I remember reading about burakumin and the danchi back in college, I think some of the novels I read quietly referred to them. It reminded me of the untouchable caste of India, and that the modern forms of discrimination were tied more to someone's address than anything else.

 

[thomas]

It seems there were blacklists with "typical" burakumin family names circulating among Japanese companies until recently. Whenever I raised the issue in discussion with Japanese students, it was pointed out that they tended to commit crimes: the classic anecdote was that they used to throw themselves in front of cars to extort compensation.

 

[nice gaijin]

It seems there were blacklists with "typical" burakumin family names circulating among Japanese companies until recently. Whenever I raised the issue in discussion with Japanese students, it was pointed out that they tended to commit crimes: the classic anecdote was that they used to throw themselves in front of cars to extort compensation.

Always interesting to hear about an underprivileged class that's targeted for prejudice and discrimination, and be given examples of how some of "those people" resort to crime or scams to get by (since their legal opportunities are stymied)... as justification for the discrimination.

What an ouroboros of logic that is.